First baseman Ino Patron is listed at 5 feet 9 inches tall and 190 pounds. The burly lefty has is tied for the team lead in home runs, but an infield single in Saturdays game may have been the biggest hit of the season for the senior.
Patron registered the 200th hit of his Dirtbags (16-18) career in Saturday’s win over UC Davis (16-16). His milestone overshadowed the pitching of the Dirtbags, who combined to allow only two hits and two walks in the 2-0 victory on Saturday.
Saturday was only the third start of the season for senior Josh Frye, who outdid his performance last Saturday against UCLA. Frye threw seven innings at Davis on Saturday, giving up both Aggie hits and walks. Relievers Ty Provencher and Kyle Friedrichs threw perfect eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to preserve the win.
The offense started in the seventh inning without the Dirtbags registering a hit. Colton Vaughn led off with a 13-pitch at bat, that ended with a walk. After a sac bunt, two walks and a double steal, Richard Prigatano reached base on a fielders choice that scored Vaughn.
The Dirtbags added another run in the eighth, again without getting a hit. Johnny Bekakis reached on an error, stole second, was bunted to third and came home on a sac fly to give the Dirtbags the 2-0 lead.
Saturday’s win came on the heels of a Friday afternoon loss in which the Dirtbag pitching staff allowed 18 hits. 11 of those came against Andrew Rohrbach, who failed to go five innings for the first time since his first start against Vanderbilt. Rohrbach gave up four runs in 4.1 innings of work, but received a no-decision as the Dirtbags took a 5-4 lead in the top of the sixth.
Nick Rosetta gave up three hits in the sixth, and a throwing error by Garrett Hampson tied the game at five. Cameron Pongs came on in relief and threw a wild pitch and a passed ball, which gave the Aggies the lead. Pongs allowed the seventh and final run to score on a double by Aggie catcher Spencer Brann.
Nick Sabo made his return to the hill on Sunday after having not pitched since March 21.
The game was tied at one headed into the third, but Sabo failed to get out of the inning. He gave up back-to-back doubles with runners on base to give the Davis a 4-1 lead. He was pulled for Ryan Millison, who gave up a home run and a scoring single that gave Davis an 8-1 lead.
The Dirtbags scratched a couple more runs and the bullpen didn’t allow a run after the third, but the 7-run inning was too much to overcome as they lost 8-4.
The Dirtbags return home Thursday night to open a three-game series against UC Santa Barbara. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.